Hoquiam Middle School, Hoquiam WA

Original Research by School Decision on Hoquiam Middle School

Hoquiam Middle School serves students in sixth through eighth grade as a regular public school within the Hoquiam School District, located in the small coastal city of Hoquiam on Washington’s Grays Harbor. The city itself has a working-class, blue-collar identity rooted in lumbering, paper manufacturing, and fishing, with a historic downtown and cultural anchors like the 7th Street Theatre and the Polson Museum. The school sits within a district that, based on available information, has not undertaken any major recent referendums, curriculum changes, or property tax shifts that would alter a family’s experience in the near term, so the current profile is likely to remain stable.

Enrollment is of a size that allows for a school where students and staff can know one another. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic share and smaller groups of students who identify as two or more races, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Black. A large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the broader economic conditions in a community that has seen population flatten or drift lower in recent decades and where the housing stock is notably more affordable than state or national benchmarks.

State assessment data from the most recent school year, the only year available for this school, shows that proficiency rates in English language arts, math, and science are below the midpoint among middle schools in Grays Harbor County. In English language arts, proficiency rates were just under a third of students in sixth grade, a bit higher in seventh grade, and lower in eighth grade. In math, proficiency was lower across all three grades, with eighth graders posting the weakest results. In science, tested in eighth grade, about a quarter of students met the bar. When placed against other school districts in Grays Harbor County, the school’s overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile of the group. The district does not report chronic absenteeism or graduation data for this school, and since Hoquiam Middle School serves only grades six through eight, the absence of a graduation rate is expected.

The school’s academic results are soft enough that a parent should look into what supports are in place for students who are not meeting proficiency benchmarks and whether the curriculum offers strong pathways for those who are. The school’s website and district office would be the place to ask about interventions, enrichment, and how instruction is tailored to a student body where most children come from low-income households.

No information was available on discipline rates, staffing ratios, course access, or special population counts such as special education or English learner services. For a middle school, the absence of English learner and special education data is a notable gap for any parent whose child would need those services. Without that information, the picture of student support is incomplete.

What is clear is that Hoquiam Middle School presents as a place where the academic numbers are a significant concern relative to county peers, and where the community context is one of modest means, stable but slow population trends, and a cost of living well below the state average. A family considering this school should weigh the affordability of the area and the small-school environment against the clear challenge of low test scores and the unknowns around student support services.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 620%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 17 pts below state median

Grade 724%

School 24% · District 23% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median

Grade 812%

School 12% · District 11% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 22 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 31% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 34%

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 23%

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 24%

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

This schoolHoquiam School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income29%0 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income26%Higher-income45%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income34%Higher-income36%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income24%Higher-income22%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income7%Higher-income14%7 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income29%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income25%Higher-income21%4 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income10%Higher-income16%6 pp gap